


someone your own size

by fatcr0w



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Implied/Referenced Abuse, M/M, Multi, Physical Abuse, Self-Esteem Issues, Tags to be added, Verbal Abuse, maybe raihan/piers/leon if i can convince myself, no beta we die like men, read the tags, stupidly in a pit of commas
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:26:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23010157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fatcr0w/pseuds/fatcr0w
Summary: "Piers...He's gonna end up in the A&E."The rockstar's response was only to chug his pint in one go."I'm scared Piers.""Yea. We all are."{{A summary eludes me for now. Please read the tags}}
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan, Kibana | Raihan/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 19





	someone your own size

_Present Day, Age 27_

"He says he can't come," Piers spat, his ever-present frown deepening. He took a generous swig from his pint and slammed it down a little harder than necessary, "Again." 

Leon frowned into his own pint. His usually cheerful face was a mix of frustration and anger that the ex-champion would never let the public see. Here he could let go. That was the reason they always came here, after all. 

The _Spilled Swill of Spikemuth_ was a local establishment even older than Piers' (now Marnie's) gym. None of the regulars were impressed with any upstart celebrity trainers that dared enter their doors. Not when footy was on channel ten. 

"Did he give a reason?" 

"Not a good one." 

"Did he sound alright?" 

"No."

Leon's grip on his pint tightened until his knuckles went white, "Bloody Bastard."

"Bloody fucking bastard," Piers agreed. 

The two fell into a tense silence, staring holes in the bottom of their glasses until the barkeep came to top them off. Leon was the first to break the silence.   
  
"What does he see in him anyway?" the ex-champion looked more like a lion than a man with the way he hunched over in barely contained fury, "There's not a shag in the world worth getting pushed around."

Piers nodded silently with his sleepy, all-knowing eyes. 

"And when we try to step up for him, try to get him out, he defends him! Says it's not all bad. Says they've been together so long. Says we can't be friends if I can't accept his relationship!" Leon didn't notice he was crying until the foam in his beer was pierced by salty tears, "Piers...He's gonna end up in the A&E." 

The rockstar's response was only to chug his pint in one go.

"I'm scared Piers." 

"Yea. We all are." 

* * *

_Three Years Before, Age 24_

Like many evil things, the start of Raihan's relationship had seemed like the best thing to happen in a while. 

As far as Leon remembered, their relationship had started sometime in the offseason nearly three years ago, a year or so before the darkest day and all the fun changes that came with it. The annual Galar national museum charity gala was a staple of the year. It was tailor-made for celebrities to show off, complete with red carpet photo-ops. It was a lovely, sophisticated time and perhaps Oleana's favorite yearly ritual. 

For Raihan however, these galas had been a bit of bad luck for the past few years. Even the paps had caught on to his pattern. The dragon gym leader was never at a loss for partners. He had a different piece of arm candy for every gala attendance, or so it seemed. For some reason, though Raihan and his date of the evening would enter the party clinging to one another, by the next morning, news of the breakup would be in the papers. 

At first, Leon found it a bit strange. There was never a scene of any sort. Everyone appeared on their best behavior, but Raihan would inevitably leave alone. When asked the dragon leader would only shrug and claim that they didn't like his schedule or some other clearly bullshit reason. 

After several rounds of this behavior, Leon found himself tuxed up near the bar in the Rose of the Rhondelands, parroting the Wyndon gazette, "Do you think they break up before the gala, and he brings them around as sort of a goodbye gift?" 

Piers fixed him with only half of his all-knowing stare, the other on his plus-one, Marnie, who was starting to nod off at their little table. 

"Our Rai's generous, but not so much as to drop a ten thousand quid on a tux and the ticket in. Opal paid fer Marn and won't say why, "Piers rolled his eyes to hide how touched he really was, "It's five thousand pounds to even sit at the table! League covers us but guests are out-of-pocket. No reimbursement. " 

"Then why would he break up with them so soon after?" 

Piers gave him the long-suffering look he'd come to know as despair in the Galarian champion's stupidity. 

"Because each one of them has a bad habit of trying to shag you mate!" 

A few of the guests turned awkwardly at Pier's outburst. The punk barely restrained his middle-finger at the posh lot and instead hooked Leon under his arm to speak more quietly. 

"Remember Marsh? The Pokegram star?" 

Leon nodded. Marsh had almost as many followers as Raihan, and they'd "come out" as a couple right in the middle of that season, kissing Raihan full on the lips during a livestream, hanging all over him like one of his goomys. 

Leon hated Marsh. 

"Raihan thought Marsh would be fine to bring here. But he got drunk and offered to give you a gobber right at the table. That one actually," Piers pointed to a table a few meters to the left, "I know you don't remember. It was four years ago! 

"And really you get five of those offers a day, no matter how hard Oleana tries to block them for you. Anyways, Raihan was bringing back some water for him and heard it. When the bloody cunt sobered up, they had a talk, and turns out it was your pants Marsh wanted into."

Leon's face faltered from his champion look into a worried frown. 

Piers shook his head, "They aren't all as straightforward as Marsh, but it's been the same every time he gets a new one. Remember Kira? She slipped her number into your back pocket. Reginald ditched him the minute you walked in. Remember? He was the one with the light blue hair who talked your ear off all night. And Sam? Honestly, I think he was doing Sam a favor for his modeling. Might have been the best pick Raihan made of the lot. Least he didn't leave him standing like a beanpole."

It made sense. Leon's oblivious nature meant that he didn't pick up on the same signals everyone else did. He was by no means inexperienced, teenagers find a way, but when it came to common courtship methods he was completely in the dark. After all, he'd been a champion since well before puberty. He never had to _try_ before. 

Of course after several near-disasters, he'd settled down and picked apart his real feelings at the ripe age of twenty-three (or rather three months before the gala), only for the true object of his affections to already be neck-deep in his newest relationship.

Piers knew about Leon's crush. He knew about it before Leon drunkenly confessed over videocall from his kitchen floor, he knew about it before Leon gathered up his energy to confess. He knew about it when Raihan excitedly introduced his new boyfriend, Chrysanthemum or "Chris" for short, at their yearly midseason pub crawl.

Leon had ~~repressed~~ _moved past_ his feelings in record time, placing them aside to congratulate the happy couple. After all, this Chris seemed... different from all the others Raihan had dated in the past. 

Chris was a photojournalist trying to work his way out of entertainment. He'd spent far too many sleepless nights straining his voice and click finger to be all that impressed with celebrities anymore. He also wasn't a pokemon trainer. Other than his rotom companion, he seemed to have an aversion to them, especially any that weren't soft and small. And most importantly, he didn't seem to have eyes for anyone other than Raihan. 

It was the consolation that Leon kept close to soothe the pain every time his eyes caught the way Chris' arm rested comfortably around Raihan's waist like it did now.   
  
He was perfect. Well, nearly. Leon's one bone to pick with Chris wasn't the man's fault at all. But it grit at the champion like sand in the high reach of his leggings. It was like looking at a distorted mirror image of what could have been if he'd gotten himself together just a few months faster. 

Chris looked entirely too much like Leon. When he'd first made the papers, there was speculation that Chris was a distant cousin. Though that could technically true, they were no more related than he was to the Alolan Champion, Iris. They all came from the same ethnic group, was all. That rumor quieted down after the tabloid publishing it was called out for the racist assumption. Raihan and Nessa weren't related, why would Leon be related to Chris? 

Besides. His hair was a redder shade of black than Leon's purplish-blue hue. He was a few inches taller and a shade thinner than Leon as well, though still solidly built. More clearly than anything else, his hazel eyes were deep honey brown, not the bright shining gold that made Leon such a favorite for closeups. 

But if he opened the morning news and saw a grayscale photo of Raihan walking the streets of Hammerlocke hand-in-hand with his lover, his heart would skip a few beats because of how close it was to being himself. 

Leon felt himself floating in that same anguish as Chris and Raihan moved in perfect sync through the room. A bony elbow poked him out of his reverie. 

"I really think this one will make it," Piers gave Leon one of his rare, pitying looks, "He hasn't moved an inch from Rai the whole night." 

Leon let out one of his signature (fake) chuckles, "Mr. Chrysanthemum may well be superglued on. Might need bolt cutters if he needs to use the loo." 

Piers' pitying gaze didn't waver, "Yea, well looks like before that they're coming to have a little chat with you." 

As usual, Piers was right. The Raihan-Chris fused boyfriend organism had made their rounds among the whos-who and was heading towards the bar and Leon. 

"Us, you mean," Leon swiveled to see that Piers had teleported to sit beside his sister, lounged back in his chair with a face ready to see a magnificent show. 

"Tosser," Leon grumbled. 

"Oi, Is that any way to greet your dearest rival?" Raihan's face was beaming so brightly that Leon wished he'd worn sunglasses. Even the flash of hundreds of cameras couldn't compare to this. 

He was so _bloody_ happy and it was clear why. Raihan's fashionably open collar couldn't hide the edge of a purplish mark on the base of his neck.

Raihan noticed his gaze and awkwardly pulled up his collar, "Hah. Missed a spot with the concealer. Don't tell the paps," he laughed. 

Leon bit his lip. Perhaps he was over observant because it was Raihan. Perhaps he shouldn't have been staring at his best friend's neck like a hungry vampire. Perhaps it was best for his health if he kept his eyes on Chris instead. 

**Author's Note:**

> it gets worse before it gets better. The happy ending is a work in promise.


End file.
